Sudhir Kumar Bhattacharyya obtained his DSc degree (1939) from the University of Dacca, now in Bangladesh. His areas of specialization were Catalysis, High-Pressure Chemistry and Chemical Kinetics. He was Senior Professor and Head, Department of Chemistry (1952-70) and also Deputy Director (Academic), Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (1968-70). He was also an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (1971-78).

Academic and Research Achievements: Bhattacharyya's research cover applications of thermal analysis techniques to study the thermal characteristics and structural properties of solid catalysts and synthesis of a large number of carboxylic acids and esters in the presence of catalysts at high pressures of up to 1000 atm using carbon monoxide, acetylene, alcohols, ethers, and aldehydes as raw materials. He co-authored Some Catalytic Gas Reactions of Industrial Importance (MS University of Baroda, 1958).

Other Contributions: Bhattacharyya served on various committees of CSIR, DAE, ICAR and some universities. He was a Member of Editorial Board of Journal of Thermal Analysis.

Awards and Honours: Bhattacharyya was conferred upon Acharya JC Ghosh Memorial Lecture (1967). He was a Fellow of Indian Chemical Society (Vice-President, 1968-71) and President, Chemistry Section of Indian Science Congress (1968).